Numerical analysis of pantograph–catenary coupling vibration for high-speed railways

There is a pronounced coupling vibration between the catenary and pantograph during operation for high-speed railways. In this paper, a pantograph–catenary coupling vibration model is constructed to investigate the vibration characteristics under various working conditions. Two different types of catenaries (simple and elastic chain types) are simulated and compared using the finite element method. The pantograph is simplified into a mass–spring–damping combination member, the contact and messenger wires are set to linear beam cells, and the dropper and stitch wire are set to truss cells. The results suggest that the vibration characteristics of the two types of catenaries and pantograph exhibit different trends. The maximum stresses of the messenger wire, dropper, and contact wire do not follow a monotonically increasing trend with the train speed. The maximum stress of the messenger wire under the simple chain type of catenary is higher when the initial contact force increases from 80 to 120 N. However, the maximum stress under the elastic chain type of catenary is higher when the initial contact force is 60 or 140 N. Except for the initial contact force of 140 N, the maximum stresses of the dropper and contact wire under the simple chain type of catenary are lower than those under the elastic chain type. This work provides a valuable reference for optimizing the design of pantograph–catenary systems.